You may have noticed that in coffee shops, coffee is ground fresh because it’s at its most flavorful the moment it’s ground. The same is true for spices. As soon as you grind them, they begin to lose flavor. So if your main priority is maximum flavor, then it may indeed be worth it to buy your spices whole and a grinder or mortar and pestle to grind at home. You’ll need to add far less of a fresh-ground spice to a dish than pre-ground for the same potency.

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At the same time, grinding your spice with a mortar and pestle takes a lot of effort. Even grinding all your spices in a blade grinder can add time and steps to your recipe. That’s fine if you have time, but if you’re just cooking yourself dinner after a long day then you probably want to maximize convenience—your dish will still taste great if you add the right amount of pre-ground spices.

All in all, it’s probably a good idea to have whole versions of your favorite spices in the cupboard to fresh-grind when you have time or want to really highlight a certain flavor. But fresh-grinding everything every time isn’t necessarily plausible, and that’s okay.

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

It’s easy to have a cabinet full of spices, but are you paying attention to the freshness of these ingredients? A key to always ensuring that your dishes stay delicious is to do your best to maintain the maximum level of freshness in your spice kitchen.

Unfortunately, it’s far too easy to keep certain little-used spices in your cabinet without touching them for months, or even years. We recently found some white pepper in our spice cabinet that hadn’t been touched for over 5 years!

So, how long do spices stay fresh until you need to replace them with new ones?

As a general rule, there are three different guidelines to follow to know how long spices stay good.

If we are talking about whole spices, they will usually be good after being purchased for about 4 to 5 years. This includes things like cinnamon sticks and whole pepper kernels.

Ground spices don’t stay fresh for quite so long. In fact, they usually lose their aroma and flavor about 2 to 3 years after being sold.

Dried herbs aren’t technically spices, but they are often grouped in the same category and kept in the same place in your kitchen. However, they are the shortest-lived option, staying fresh for only about 1 to 2 years.

So, start paying attention to the freshness of your herbs and spices if you want to keep your dishes delicious!

The post How Long Do Spices Stay Fresh? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

You may have noticed that in coffee shops, coffee is ground fresh because it’s at its most flavorful the moment it’s ground. The same is true for spices. As soon as you grind them, they begin to lose flavor. So if your main priority is maximum flavor, then it may indeed be worth it to buy your spices whole and a grinder or mortar and pestle to grind at home. You’ll need to add far less of a fresh-ground spice to a dish than pre-ground for the same potency.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tradewinds Spice Company (@tradewindsspiceofhawaii)

At the same time, grinding your spice with a mortar and pestle takes a lot of effort. Even grinding all your spices in a blade grinder can add time and steps to your recipe. That’s fine if you have time, but if you’re just cooking yourself dinner after a long day then you probably want to maximize convenience—your dish will still taste great if you add the right amount of pre-ground spices.

All in all, it’s probably a good idea to have whole versions of your favorite spices in the cupboard to fresh-grind when you have time or want to really highlight a certain flavor. But fresh-grinding everything every time isn’t necessarily plausible, and that’s okay.

The post Is Grinding Your Own Spices Worth It? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.

It’s easy to have a cabinet full of spices, but are you paying attention to the freshness of these ingredients? A key to always ensuring that your dishes stay delicious is to do your best to maintain the maximum level of freshness in your spice kitchen.

Unfortunately, it’s far too easy to keep certain little-used spices in your cabinet without touching them for months, or even years. We recently found some white pepper in our spice cabinet that hadn’t been touched for over 5 years!

So, how long do spices stay fresh until you need to replace them with new ones?

As a general rule, there are three different guidelines to follow to know how long spices stay good.

If we are talking about whole spices, they will usually be good after being purchased for about 4 to 5 years. This includes things like cinnamon sticks and whole pepper kernels.

Ground spices don’t stay fresh for quite so long. In fact, they usually lose their aroma and flavor about 2 to 3 years after being sold.

Dried herbs aren’t technically spices, but they are often grouped in the same category and kept in the same place in your kitchen. However, they are the shortest-lived option, staying fresh for only about 1 to 2 years.

So, start paying attention to the freshness of your herbs and spices if you want to keep your dishes delicious!

The post How Long Do Spices Stay Fresh? appeared first on falafelandcaviar.com.